Slices
Prepare
Think of all the things in your life that right now are going well – and thank God for them.
Bible passage
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshipped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, ‘Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.’ 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
17 ‘Watch me,’ he told them. ‘Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all round the camp blow yours and shout, “For the Lord and for Gideon.”’
19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ 21 While each man held his position round the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah towards Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. 23 Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. 24 Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, ‘Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.’
So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah.
Explore
The defeat of the massed forces of the ‘Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples’ (6:33) by Gideon and just 300 men, using their ‘trumpets and torches’ ruse, is so incredible as to put beyond doubt that the victory is God’s. Here is hard evidence of how Israel’s fortunes improve when God’s people remember him and are faithful to their covenant obligation to worship him alone. Against all odds, trusting in God is a safe bet!
But was Gideon’s trust totally in God? The prescribed battle cry, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon’ (v 18), may simply reflect the fact that the Israelite soldiers served both the Lord as his people, and Gideon as their military commander. However, it might be interpreted as an attempt by Gideon to share ‘top-billing’ with God for Israel’s great triumph. Perhaps Gideon can finally now see himself as a ‘mighty warrior’ (6:12), and so is in danger of losing not only his timidity but also his humility? The prospect of stardom is powerfully seductive, as much within the church as without it! The possibility that the idolatry of self-sufficiency could creep back so quickly through the door of Gideon’s success fits well within the downward spiral pattern of Israel’s fortunes that characterises the book of Judges as a whole.
Respond
Talk honestly to God about your own struggles with the temptation to self-promotion. Pray for wisdom to know how to glorify God appropriately in your life.
Deeper Bible study
In the midst of activity, Gideon paused to worship (v 15). Do this now.
Here we read of ‘one of the great routs of Biblical narrative’,1 the pinnacle of Gideon’s life and mission. Instead of ‘the least in my family’, who sees his clan as ‘the weakest in Manasseh’,2 we now see Gideon as a confident and competent military leader. His men willingly follow his lead in carrying out the ploy which throws the Midianites into confusion, a plan which seems to have been devised by Gideon rather than received ready-made from the Lord (vs 16–21). Demonstrating even greater authority, Gideon summons members of tribes other than his own to pursue the fleeing Midianites (vs 23,24).
However, Gideon’s new-found confidence is not in himself or his abilities, but in the Lord. Notice how he begins the sortie with worship (v 15a) and attributes the victory to the Lord (vs 15b,18b). The narrative (v 22) makes it clear that it is the Lord who causes the Midianites to turn on each other. It is intriguing that the Israelite soldiers add ‘a sword’ (v 20) to what they were instructed to shout (v 18) but ironically the only swords wielded are those used by the Midianites on each other!
One of the sharpest problems of the Christian life is how to get the balance between doing all I can to achieve a desired result and trusting that the Lord will do what is necessary. For example, I am currently grappling with a protracted and frustrating legal matter: I find it very difficult to know how many emails and phone calls I should make to try to move the process forward and how much I should trust that the Lord is working out his purposes behind the scenes and so I don’t need to push too hard. What lessons do you think I can learn from Gideon in this passage?
What battles do you need to fight? What can you do and what must you trust God to do?
1 A Graeme Auld, Joshua, Judges and Ruth: The Daily Study Bible, St Andrew Press, 1984, p173 2 Judg 6:15
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Isaiah 51,52; Hebrews 9
Pray for Scripture Union
Alan Darlington has been a volunteer for about 30 years and is involved with a number of schools around Mansfield. Pray for him as he helps schools and churches deal with the ongoing effects of lockdown.
